Driver arrested for OWI had teen in car

October 27, 2017

An Auburn Hills man arrested on Saturday, October 21, in connection with driving with a blood alcohol level nearly five times the legal limit did so with his 13-year-old daughter in the vehicle, Oakland County Sheriff's deputies from the Rochester Hills substation said.

A deputy responding about 4:14 p.m. to the report of a red Dodge Nitro swerving all over the roadway near Avon and Adams roads said he followed the vehicle to Livernois Avenue where it nearly struck several cars stopped at an intersection. The vehicle then turned onto Harding Avenue, at which point the deputy conducted a traffic stop.

The officer said the driver, a 45-year-old Auburn Hills man, was driving with his 13-year-old daughter, of Rochester Hills, in the front seat.

During the stop, the deputy said the driver failed several field sobriety tests, but refused requests to submit to a breathalyzer test. The man was then arrested on suspicion of operating while intoxicated (OWI) and transported to an area hospital after agreeing to submit to a blood withdraw.

While at the hospital, the man requested to submit to a breathalyzer test, which registered a blood alcohol level of .383, more than four times the state's .08 limit.

Deputies contacted the teen's mother, who made arrangements to pick her up from a home in Rochester Hills.

The daughter told a deputy while being transported that she was scared while her father was driving and had to grab the steering wheel a few times to avoid crashing.

The father was arrested in connection with operating while intoxicated and lodged at the Oakland County Jail pending an arrest warrant. His car was impounded.